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LETTERS 



OF 



JOHN, LORD CUTTS 



TO 



COLONEL JOSEPH DUDLEY, 

THEN LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT, AFTERWARDS 
GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



1693-1700. 




Colonel Joseph Dudley, M. P. 



Afterwards Governor of Massachusetts. 



Born 1647. Died 1720. 



From .?;; original portrait in possession of Hon. Robert C. Winlhrop. 



LETTERS 



OF 



JOHN, LORD CUTTS 



TO 



COLONEL JOSEPH DUDLEY, 

THEN LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT, AFTERWARDS 
GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



1693-1700. 



Reprinted from the Proceedings of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society, 1886. 




CAMBRIDGE : 
JOHN WILSON AND SON. 

JHntijersttg ^ress. 
1886. 






Jthb library ij 

OF C ONG RESS ■■ 

[wmiygroNif 



/ 



LETTERS 



OF 



JOHN, LORD CUTTS 



TO 



COLONEL JOSEPH DUDLEY. 



At a monthly meeting of the Massachusetts Historical 
Society held at the Society's Rooms, No. 30 Tremont 
Street, Boston, on Thursday, Jan. 14, 1886, the Presi- 
dent (Rev. George E. Ellis, D.D., LL.D.) in the chair, 
Mr. R. C. Winthrop, Jr., said : — 

Mr. President, — More than twenty years ago the late 
President of this Society (Hon. Robert C. Winthrop) found 
among his family-papers a packet of letters, written between 
1693 and 1700, from Lieutenant-General Lord Cutts to Colo- 
nel Joseph Dudley, then Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of 
Wiffht, and afterwards Governor of Massachusetts. Our late 
President, in running his eye hurriedly over these letters, 
satisfied himself that they in no way related to New England 
History, and laid them aside for perusal at some more con- 
venient,season, which never came. More than once, however, 
has he suggested to me to make an exhaustive examination 
of them, which I have now done, carefully collating the copies 
which I am about to communicate to the Society. They are 
thirty-two in number ; and while I do not pretend that they 
can fairly be considered of much historical importance, yet I 
have found them extremely entertaining, and I believe they 
would have possessed no little interest for the late Lord 
Macaulay, who had an evident liking for the martial figure 
of Lord Cutts, and who styles him in his history " the brav- 
est of the brave," " unrivalled in that bull-dog courage which 



flinches from no danger," and "so much at ease in the hottest 
fire of the French batteries that his soldiers gave him the 
honorable nickname of the Salamander." 

The most diligent investigation has not enabled me to state 
with certainty the date of John Cutts's birth, but I imagine 
him to have been a somewhat j 7 ounger man than his corre- 
spondent. He came of a good Essex family, inherited an 
estate in Cambridgeshire, adopted the profession of arms, 
served as aide-de-camp successively to the Dukes of Mon- 
mouth and Lorraine, distinguished himself at the taking of 
Buda in 1680, and still more so, ten years later, at the battle 
of the Boyne, where his intrepid conduct, under the eye of 
William of Orange, resulted in his being raised by that mon- 
arch to the Irish peerage, and in his being named, not long 
after, to the governorship of the Isle of Wight. This post 
was then by no means the sinecure it has been for more 
than a century past ; on the contrary, the exposed situation 
of the island, the disturbed condition of public affairs, and 
the prevalence of Jacobite plots made it an office of much 
responsibility as well as of considerable emolument. Cutts's 
duties in attendance upon the King and Parliament, together 
with his military command in Flanders, rendered it impossible 
for him to be continuously in the island. It was essential 
that he should have on the spot a lieutenant-governor pos- 
sessing his entire confidence ; and he chose Joseph Dudley, 
who for eight years was the alter ego of Lord. Cutts in Wight, 
and for several of those years the representative in Parliament 
of one of the island boroughs. 

Dudley, as we know, was born in 1647, a younger son of 
Governor Thomas Dudley, of Massachusetts, and had been 
before in England at two earlier periods in the intervals of 
high civil employment in his native country; but precisely 
how or when or why he became so intimate with Lord Cutts it 
is difficult to determine. General Hugh Mackay, in his " Char- 
acters of Military Officers of his own Time," speaks of Cutts 
as " tall, lusty, and well-shaped, an agreeable companion, 
with abundance of wit, but too much vanity, affable, fa- 
miliar, and brave ; " in short, a lively, dashing soldier, who 
at first sight would seem to have had little in common with 
Joseph Dudley, who was originally bred to the ministry, and 
who preserved throughout life much of the gravity of a 



professed believer in a somewhat rigorous Calvinism. But the 
two men were alike- ambitious, and resembled each other in a 
thirst for profitable public station, equalling that of their illus- 
trious contemporary, John, Duke of Marlborough. Cutts, in 
these letters, is continually stimulating Dudley's zeal by prom- 
ise of preferment ; and it is evident that he exacted from him 
in return almost ever}'- variety of service. Writing to him at 
intervals from a dozen different places, — from Whitehall and 
Kensington, from Plymouth and Portsmouth, from Newport 
and Carisbrooke Castle, from Gravesend and Tunbridge-Wells, 
and from the various headquarters of the Allied Army in the 
Low Countries, — he deals not merely with public affairs and 
local politics, the island elections and the island garrisons, but 
he employs his Lieutenant-Governor to pay his bills, to pacify 
his creditors, to order his liveries, to do his marketing, and 
even to bottle his wine. 

Now and then, as will be seen, Dudley is taken to task 
with a good deal of vivacity ; but it is evident that he and 
Cutts were necessary to each other at this period, and their 
coolness was never of long duration. His Lordship's official 
correspondence is doubtless to be found on record in London, 
and his autograph is occasionally to be met with in private 
collections ; but, so far as I have been able to ascertain, this 
fragmentary series of his confidential letters is the only one 
of its kind in existence, and the evident sincerity of the writer 
gives them a marked flavor of actuality even after the lapse of 
nearly two centuries. 

Mr. Winthrop then proceeded to read a number of ex- 
tracts from the letters, which are here given in full : — 

Whitehall, Jan : 15. 1693. 

S? — I am but just come from the Committee (and could by no 
means come away sooner) so that I can only desire you to be with me at 
eighfo'clock to-morrow-morning. Necessity must be submitted to; and 
Vexing is best let alone where 't will doe no good. I am very much 
tyr'd and fear I have catch'd cold with waiting for a coach in the 
Pallace yard. But let it goe how it will, I am ST 

Your humble servant, 

Cutts. 
My Service and Excuse to Cosen Hooke. 



6 

[No date — probably 1693.] 

Memorandum to M r Dually. 

To goe or send early in the morning to M r Goodchild, Inkeeper at 
the Whitehorse in the hayrnarket (where my horses stand), to tell him 
you have orders to pay him what he demands upon his bills, before the 
horses goe out of the stable; and that you are expecting the mony 
every hour. To pay fifteen pounds to Mr England, a brewer, and tell 
him I could not receive any more before I went ; but that he shall have 
the rest as soon as I return. To pay forty pounds to Mr Sterton, a 
Cornchandler, and take up his bond. To pay ten pounds to Mr. Fisher. 
To come out with the coach and six horses, and my Groom ; to bring 
one footman behind the coach, and to let the other footman ride along 
with the coach upon my Nephew Rivet's horse. To be at Cambridge 
on Wednesday, and to order your journy so as to bring the horses as 
fresh and unfatigued as you can. To hasten the payment of the 300 lb . 
To give notice to Captain Blood's man (at my house) what time you 
set out. 

Whitehall, December 28* 1693. 
S R — I received your letter and shall take care of the contents. I 
desire you to come up to town as soon as you can, for the sake of your 
own affairs as well as mine. My hearty service to all your good 

company ; I am S r 

Y T . humble Servant, 

CUTTS. 

Plymouth, Jan 22 : 1694. 
S R — I heartily wish you had not propos'd to Mr Blathwayt to take 
the 300 lb instead of five ; you cannot imagine the Injury you have 
done me. Indeed you should never take upon you to decide in mat- 
ters of that moment without orders. I insist upon the 500'. b and 
nothing but your offer of taking three could hinder me of it. I'm sure 
it will be the hardest thing in the world if I have less. I design to 
be at Salisbury on Sunday, at Basinstoke on Munday, at Southampton 
on Tuesday, &e. If you receive not the mony between this and that, 
meet me on Munday at Basinstoke and we'l discourse farther on it. 
Present my service to Coll : Withers and tell him I desire (if possible) 
that he would meet me at Basingstoke on Munday next ; and desire the 
same of Coll : Hope, but desire them both not to speak of it to any one. 
Speak to Rouse my coachmaker and order him to finish my mourniug- 
charriot just as the Peers have their Charriots ; desire my brother 
Acton x to furnish him the Cloath ; of as good as any body puts to that 

1 John Acton, Esq., of Basingstoke, married a sister of Lord Cutts. 



use ; and tell Rouse I would have the harness likewise done as the 
Peers have their harness ; and all finish'd as soon as may be. Tell 
him I would have the fore-Glass whole. I desire you to bespeak me a 
mourning saddle and bridle, with holsters and hoose. Joseph will bring 
- my sadler to you. Inform your self how the Peers have their furniture. 
Let Joseph set out as soon as it is done, and bring my 2 saddle-horses 
to Portsmouth, not suffering any one to get on their backs but himself ; 
and let him come very gently. Desire my brother Acton to give him 
mony to bring him thither ; but he must be there by Saturday come 
sennit without faile. ' Enquire for one Pancefort a Clothier (Brother 
Acton will inform you of him), he cloaths severall regiments. Receive 
200 1 !' of brother Acton and pay it to this Pancefort (taking a receipt 
according to the enclos'd moclell) and telling Pancefort from me that 
I design'd to have employ'd him in the cloathing of my regiment, but 
being sent out of Town, I'm forc'd to leave it to others ; besides 
something that I'l tell him when I see him ; and give him five Guinys 
as a present from me (which my Brother Acton will give you) and if 
he makes any complaint, soften him as much as you can, and tell him 
it was impossible for me to avoid it. Desire my brother Acton to 
meet me at Basinstoke on Munday with the Patterns of my regiment's 
cloaths. Tell my sister Cutts x I ask her excuse for not writing this 
post, being full of worke. My most humble service to the Speaker 2 (if 
you will doe me that favour) and give him a note of the places where I 
am to be, with a handsome compliment if he has any comands for me. 
The Fleet bound for Jamaica sayl'd this afternoon, the wind E. N. E. 
I beg of you these favours, and that you will be a little exact and 
carefull in Pancefort's business. 

I am sincerely Sr, 

Your most humble servant, 

Cutts. 

P. S. Desire brother Acton to bid Loggars goe about my servant's 
mourning and to bargain for the cloath. 

P. S. ^Tell brother Acton I'l satisfie him for the cloath for the 
Charriot. 

Portsmouth, Mar. : 22. 1694. 

S? — I really love and honour you for not despairing (as the Romans 
once said of a brave Gen") of the affaires of the commonwealth. I have 
an Express from Petersfeild that M r Woosely will be here in an hour, 
or two ; and he and I both will be at Yarmouth to-morrow God 

1 Miss Joanna Cutts, his unmarried sister. 

2 Sir John Trevor, Master of the Rolls under James II., subsequently expelled 
from the House of Commons for corruption. 



8 

willing. I desire you to exert vigorously the King's, and mine, and your 
own Interest ; and I hope God will bless the honest Williamite side. 
Send Hope a Cordiall ; and give him kind, endearing, respectfull, in- 
couraging words. I shall follow all your advice. Hasten this away 
with the utmost speed. I am sincerely Sr 

Your most humble servant, 

Cutts. 
Coll. Dddlt. 

P. S. Please send speedily in my name to Coll Lee, S r John Dil- 
lington, 1 and all partys concern'd in the Island, in such terms as y r 
prudence shall direct. 

Newport, June 23. 1694. 
Sr. — I desire you to help this Gentleman (Major Moncal) to the 
quickest passage to Portsmouth, you can. I desire my letters with all 
speed ; & am (with my most humble service to the good Ladys) Sr, 

Your most humble servant, 

Cutts. 
For the hon bIe Coll. Dddlt 
L* Governor for the Isle Wight. 

At the King's Quarters at Waneghem 

NEAR COCRTRAY. Aug. 30. 1694. 

Sr. — Setting out late from the Camp near Portsmouth I arriv'd 
not a London 'till five o'clock on fryday morning. I could have arrived 
sooner, but knowing y' I could not see her Majesty 2 the same night if 
I arrived late, I thought it better to repose myself upon the road and 
arrive early the next morning. On Saturday morning I took post for 
Harwitch : on Munday in the afternoon I set sayl, and on Tuesday I 
landed at Helvoet-Sluys in Holland. I took post immediately (having 
her Majesty's letters to the King 3 ) and I arriv'd in the Camp severall 
hours before the Post. His Majesty receiv'd me very kindly ; aud 
every body beleives I am like to succeed in my pretentions. I have as 
yet no station allotted me in the line of battle ; and so for the pres- 
ent I am in the Court-Quarters, and wait upon the King's Person. 
Pray tell M r Cole and Partners that I doe not forget their mony- 
affairs. I had finish'd it before I left London, but that I came away 
Express immediately upon my arrivall here, but it shall be dispatch'd 
with all possible speed. Pray acquaint Collonell Gipson of my coming 
away Express ; and that I shall not fail to dispatch those affaires con- 
cerning our Camp at Portsmouth with all possible speed. This with 

1 Sir John Dillington, 4th baronet, of Knighton in Wight, 

2 Mary of Orange, 
s William III. 



9 

my humble service to him. Desire he will please to write to Court to 
have our sick men in. the Country supply'd with subsistance ; if he 
pleases to use my name in it, he may. Make a discreet and modest 
use of what I write to you concerning myself. I am Sr, 

Your most humble servant, 

CUTTS. 

From his Majesty's Camp at Rousslar, 
Sept : ^ 1694. 

S R . — I send you here enclos'd a Deputation to discharge for me (in 
my absence) the Office of Mayor of Newtown ; with a clause in it to 
recommend you to be elected Mayor for the ensuing year ; I need say 
no more, but only desire you to prepare and order things so, that it 
may have its desir'd effect. I send you at the same time (enclos'd) a 
letter to the Corporation of Yarmouth ; w cb when you have read it, you 
will seal and deliver ; but pray be present at the opening of it, and (as 
I said before) prepare and order things so, that it may succeed. Let 
the Corporations have Vennison, as is usuall ; and remember, that when 
you Swear the Mayor of Newport at Carisbrooke Castle, you are to 
give him no treat, any farther than a Class of Wine ; and that only if 
you please ; and not let them be carry'd any where but straight into 
the chappell before prayers. I recommend these and all other things 
to your care ; hoping to be soon with you. I dare venture telling a 
discreet man y* I don't much doubt of succeeding in my pretentions, 
which will put me in a fair way. Be assur'd I don't forget you, but 
will effectually take care of you ; being Sr, 

Your affectionate humble servant, 

Cutts. 

P. S. We expect every hour an account of the taking of Huy, the 
Fort Piccar being allready taken by storm. I never saw so flaming, 
and healthfull an Army at this time of year. For ordinary news see 
the publick letters. 

<• From his Majesty's Camp at Rousslar 

in Flanders, Sept : ^f . 1694. 

Mr Mayor, and you Gentlemen of the Corporation of Yarmouth : 

I think it for the good of their Majesty's service and the Corpora- 
tion, y* the present Mayor be continued another year. And therefore 
I desire you to order it so, that he may be continued accordingly. I 
doubt not of your compliance in this, since I am so much inclin'd (tho' 
hitherto my great hurrys have hindred me giveing you such markes 
of it as I will soon do) to show myself in all occasions 

Your affectionate friend to serve you, 

Cutts. 



10 

Whereas I was elected by the Corporation of Newtown to serve as 
Mayor of the same for this present year ; and whereas their Majesty's 
service necessitates my attendance in Flanders with their Majesty's 
forces now there ; I doe by these presents depute the hon b ! e Collonell 
Dudly, L- Governor of their Majesty's Isle of Wight, to execute the 
office of Mayor of the said corporation in my absence. And I doe by 
these presents recomend the said Collonell Dudly to be Mayor of the 
said Corporation for the Ensuing Year. Given at his Majesty's Camp 
at Rousslar in Flanders Sept: |§. 1694. 

Cutts. 

Deputation to Collonell Dudly &c. 

Whitehall, Nov: 15. 1694. 
S? — I had answer'd all your letters sooner, but that we have been 
coming over this month, and I thought every day to be with you. The 
sessions being so immediately begun (upon our arrivall) it was impos- 
sible for me, with regard to the King's affayres here, any ways to come 
down. I shall send down one on Munday to releive you, and refer all 
to our meeting ; and I think it by no means safe for the service that you 
come away before I send one. You may read the enclosed, then seal 
it and give it coll : Urry as if you knew nothing of the matter. By 
the person that comes to releive you, I shall write more at large. My 
affaires (thanks to God) prosper very much." I am S r , 

Your humble serv"', 

Cutts. 

Whitehall, Jan : 4* 1695. 

Sr — I have receiv'd yours by Captain Rivet, and am glad every 
thing is in so good Order. You write me word something of a share 
you shall have a right to ; which I don't very well understand. I all- 
ways understood that you had acted in the Isle of Wight only as my 
Deputy, that what you did by Vertue of the Power you have from me, 
was as much (& solely) my act and deed as if I (only) had done it; 
for that without that Power you could not be in a Capacity to doe it. 
I speak not this that I have the least thoughts of being unkind, or 
ungenerous ; but indeed I allways expected that you would have left 
the whole matter to me. For, as to the King's Coihission, you know 
how you came by it ; and you know what promise you made (upon 
your word and honour) when I gave it you. I beleive you an honest 
man, and will not imagine, that we shall disagree in anything. And 
indeed, after my having disoblig'd so many people in your Defence & 
favour, it would be unhappy if you and I should fall out. You may 
leave the Island on Weddensday, or as soon after the receipt of this 
as you please. I am sincerly, S r , your most humble servant, 

Cutts. 

Coll: Dddlt. 



11 



[Fragment of a letter endorsed by Dudley "April 2 d 1695." The earlier portion 

is missing.] 

which I forget. I hope this will confirm all Persons in their inclina- 
tions to sign the association. I beg of you to make as much of it as 
possibly you can. It is the best peice of service you can doe the King, 
me, & your self. I hope you have taken care to have it handsomely 
engross'd. Don't omit one living soul ; and be sure to keep a list of 
the names of all who refuse it. I think it will be proper for you to 
come up with it, and it would be well if you could set out on Monday ; 
and I wish (upon so very great an Occasion) two or three people of 
credit would come with you. If you bring a jolly number of hands, 
you'l doe your self and me a great kindness, but force nobody against 
their inclination. The Yarmouth Association is given ; it was not read, 
and the King said nothing to it. It will not signify much if ours suc- 
ceeds. For if those who have sign'd that, refuse mine, it will not doe 
'em a kindness here ; and all the world will know how Yarmouth is 
managed. I am S r , 

Your very humble servant, 

Cutts. 

P. S. I have made some steps in your affaire, 1 & wish you were 
here for five or six days. 

Kensington, May 11. 1695. 

Sr, — I have been coming every day for the Island ; but am pre- 
vented by a very extraordinary affaire. The King had sigu'd a Com- 
mission for Captain Pitman to be Governor of Hurst-Castle ; upon 
which the Marquis of Winchester, supported by severall of the Minis- 
ters, represented it to the King as a thing that would be a very great 
hardship upon my Lord Duke his Father, 2 and would disoblige all the 
Hampshire-Gentlemen, that Castle being in Hampshire, and not in the 
Isle of Wight. The King, upon this, order'd the Duke of Shrewsbury 3 
that the Commission should lye in the Office, 'till he had discours'd 
farther with me upon it. I have discours'd with his Majesty upon it 
since ; and so have the other side ; and it remains yet in suspence, no 
affirmative, or negative, being put upon it. The last thing, the King 
said to me concerning it was that he could not presently resolve him- 
self, but would be put in mind of it again. When I give you this 

1 The " affaire " in question was undoubtedly the Governorship of Massa- 
chusetts. Narcissus Luttrell, in his diary of March, 169|, says : " Coll. Dudley 
stands fairest to succeed Sir William Phips." 

* Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton, an eccentric personage, whose son suc- 
ceeded Cutts as Governor of Wight. 

3 Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury, then Secretary of State, and one of 
the purest statesmen of his time. 



12 

account, you are sensible that I cannot come down 'till it is decided one 
way or other ; nor can I say when I shall come down till the hour 
before I take horse ; because it depends upon the King's saying yes or 
no. I would have you make this use of what I write you, as to let 
every body know that I am every hour coming out of Town ; but that 
my departure depends upon the finishing some matters (necessary to be 
dispatch'd before I come away) "and which depend upon the King, & 
not myself. If they have got any thing of the Story by the End, set 
them right ; but don't you say any thing (but in gen 11 terms) unless 
they begin. You and I must be very discreet, for our Enimy's have 
spys upon what we say. But don't loose heart ; and all will goe well 
at last. I suppose by this time the Dragoons are come. I would have 
them Quarter'd at West- Cows. You may give the Officer leave to turn 
his horses to Grass (I mean his Dragoons horses) with such of the 
Country People near the Quarters, as he can agree with ; keeping all- 
ways eight in the stable, in case of alarm ; which may be releiv'd every 
week or fortnight, as the Officer will. "When you have two whole 
Companys, let One be at Newport; with orders to give constant Guard 
to Carisbrooke. Pray make much of all our freinds, especially my 
Newport Freinds ; speak kindly and heartily to 'em. Present my 
service to M r Shergole ; and tell him, PI write to him by next post 
about M r Loving. Let the Wine-Cooper at Yarmouth kno' too, that 
he shall have his Warrant by next Post. Orders are gone to Ports- 
mouth from the Office of Ordinance to supply your stores ; pray send 
over to enquire for 'em speedily, and by some carefull Person. I 
desire to hear from you, and am sincerely, Sr, 

Your most humble servant, 



Cutts. 



Coll : Dudly. 



P. S. I would not have the Dragoons doe any Guards ; and I would 
not have you order any of them to attend you, for reasons. 



On board nis Majesty's Yatoh the Mary, 
near Gravesend. May the 31. 1695. 

Sr, — I had wrote to you sooner, but that I have been transacting 
something, relating to our Isle of Wight affaires (of which this brings 
you an account) of which I could come to no certainty till now. But 
before I enter upon that, I will say something relating to Newtown. 
It was necessary (and not thought so without the advice of better Per- 
sons than my Self) to agree to certain Articles, whereof I send you here 
enclos'd a Copy. Accordingly they were agreed to, and confirm'd upon 
honour ; so that I have nothing to add, but positively to direct and 
require you, that the same be most religiously observ'd and executed. 



13 

This being my Positive Orders to you, you will I'm sure make no 
delay or chicane in the same. Having settled that matter, I am to let 
you know something of what I have done in other matters. S r William 
Trumbold * (whom, with a great deal of Pains we have got to be Secre- 
tary of State) is a very honest man, is intirely my freiud (and will be 
cordially your Patron), I design to set him up for Newport (but would 
not have him nam'd as yet) with my self; intending afterwards to be 
chosen myself elswhere and slip in a freind in my room. At Newtown 
I shall set up the rich (ingenious) M r Henly, 2 and some country Gentle- 
man of Figure with him ; and at Yarmouth M r Woosely 3 and the rich 
Alderman Duncomb ; 4 who is sworn fast to us (under God and the 
King) against all Majors whatsoever. S r William Trumbold, and the 
best part of the Ministry, are acquainted with this sceme ; and I doubt 
not but it will be supported. You must not name people as yet (not 
'till you have my orders for it) but only say, that I shall set up men 
without Exceptions, without so much as the pretence of Exceptions 
against them ; that we shall have country Gentleman with us (and 
some to stand) of very great figure and Estate ; that I shall recommend 
no souldier ; and such like Generall things. And here I cannot but 
wave my particular business, to tell you (by way of Cordiall to you) 
that I have very sanguine hopes that this winter will produce some- 
thing which will be very acceptable to you and I. I have really very 
Good Grounds for this ; tho' it is not a thing fit to be trusted to Paper. 
Verbum sapienti. Direct all my Pacquets to S r William Trumbold 
(who is my fast and intirely beloved freiud) who has taken down your 
name in his minutes ; has promis'd to take care of any business you 
write about, and expects constant accounts from you of such things as 
deserve the notice of One in his Office. You will be sure to make a 
modest use of this ; never to be tedious, much less light or triffling ; nor 
to trouble him but aipon serious business & in a modest way. He is a 
good man, and will doe you and I all the Good he can. I have had 
long conferences with him, and he is exactly upon our bottom. Syd- 
ford's comission will be sent down by brother Acton. In the mean 
time order him (by vertue of the Power I here give you) to act as 

1 Sir William Trumbull, of East Hampstead Park in Berkshire, who married 
Lady Judith Alexander, daughter of the 4th Earl of Stirling, and had served as 
Ambassador at Paris and Constantinople. Burnet styles him "a learned, diligent, 
and virtuous man." 

2 Anthony Henley, M. P., alike well-known as a politician, man of letters, and 
patron of the drama. His son Robert became Lord Chancellor and Earl of 
Northington. 

3 So spelled, but probably Henry Worsley, brother of Sir Robert ; subse- 
quently Envoy to Portugal and Governor of Barbadoes. 

4 Afterwards Sir Charles Duncombe, Lord Mayor of London, whose nephew 
became Lord Feversham. 



14 

Gunner & receive pay. How's Order is sent here enclos'd, and shall 
be fuller by the return of these yatchs. Your mony cannot come but 
by the return of these yatchs, for reasons you shall then know. Say 
only that you expect it soon. We are under sayl ; My Lord Rivers 1 
in the Henrietta yatch ; some of the Bone of Eng^ in the Will and 
Mary ; and I'm in the Mary ; with a considerable number of Officers 
attending us. Dear S r , keep up your Heart, & use y r head, and be as- 
sur'd I'l study your service. Write me a particular account of the 
receipt of this. Compliments to whom you please ; as if nam'd. 

I am sincerely, S r , 

Your faithfull humble servant, 
Coll: Dudlt. Cutts. 

Postcript to Coll: Dudly, May 31. 1695. 

Sr, — I send you here enclos'd a Gen" Warrant to Bowler to obey 
your Warrants, not exceeding two hundred Pounds ; which I would 
have you make use on, as follows. Fifty Pounds to the poor of the 
Town of Newport ; five and twenty of the said fifty to be paid out of 
the mony now in his hands, and the remaining five and twenty out of 
the Michaelmas-rent next ensuing. The rest I would have employ'd, 
to pay such bills as I owe in the Island, and especially the In- Keeper 
at Newport where my Horses stood. - I desire you'l give Bowler good 
Words, & try to make him advance something (to the use of these 
payments) upon the Michaelmas-rent. As to the Souldier's place va- 
cant, I would not (for twice forty pounds) that any body should take 
any mony for it ; because I know the King's mind so fully upon those 
matters. But you may put one in, for this summer, with this proviso 
(as from your self) that, if I have any One to put in at my return, he 
must resign. Pray send me an account what companys & Officers you 
have. That there is a constant Guard at Carisbrooke, Cows, & Yar- 
mouth. Pray don't let Yarmouth-Bridge fall, since a little matter will 
save it. You shall find (take my word and honour for it) that your 
pains is not lost in serving me. The Lords of the Admiralty have been 
so kind as to order me One of the King's best yatchs ; & the cabbin I am 
now sitting in is finer & richlyer furnish'd than any room in the Isle of 
Wight. Dear Dudly, God prosper us, and our Master. Adieu. 

Cutts. 

Postcript to Coll. Dudly, May 31, 1695. 

I send you enclos'd a Deputation for the Mayoralty of Newtown. 
If it wants any part of the formality of Law ; yet being in this Junc- 
ture all of a Mind, you may make it pass. You must write to Holmes, 

1 Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers of the second creation, a soldier and diplo- 
matist, Master-General of the Ordnance. 



15 

& consult him about it, before you call the Hall. I desire you to make 
Hales easy in this matter, and give him what assurances you please of 
my future kindness ; for I really mean it & intend it. You may tell 
him (as a dead secret) I have layd a Scheme that will, in a little time, 
by Gods help blow up all our Enimys. And all I doe now, is but to 
cast a mist before their Eyes. I would have you exert your utmost 
interest, & mine, to have S r Robert Worsely x chosen a capitall Burgess 
of Newtown. Doe it, formally, as my careless compliment to his figure 
& Quality ; but I mean it (intentionally) to a particular aim, which in 
due time will produce a good effect. Carry it very civilly to him & 
(between you and I) I have assurances that in due time he'l be ours. 
You must not let the Enimy suspect this of him ; for they don't dream 
it ; nor must you let him suspect you know it. But I would very fain 
have him Burgess. I desire you will send the enclos'd to Major Holmes 
by an Express forthwith ; you may send your own message with it. 
Once more adieu, and depend upon me for your sincere freind and 
humble servant, 

Cutts. 

Whitehall, Jan : 23<? 1696. 
Sr — By the next you shall not fail to have an answer to every 
Article in each of your letters, which I have this day revis'd ; tho' I 
havn't time now to answer them, by reason of y e multiplicity of busi- 
ness which I have at this time (actually) upon me. Now my Lord 
Galloway 2 is nam'd by the King for the 34 Lord Justice in Ireland, I 
hope our Isle of Wight freinds will let me stay here. I am, in hast, 

S r , yours &c, 

Cutts. 

Kensington, May the 12'. h 1696. 

Sr, — I send you here enclos'd the Noli prosequi. Pray enquire about 
it, if it is to be produc'd in Court ; if any Plea to be made upon it, &c. 
And particularly learn if any thing may be done by them this morning 
by way of praecluding us. For (with all M r D — s fine complements of 
faireness — ) Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. Pray have an Eye to 
this with the greatest care & speed, not loosing a minute. Pay the 
Porter, & I'l repay you ; as allso any necessary ffee. At my house at 
four. 

I am, S r , your humble servant, 

Cutts. 

1 Sir Robert Worsley, 4th Baronet of Appuldercombe, then perhaps the largest 
landed proprietor in the island. 

2 James Stewart, 5th Earl of Galloway, a prominent personage of this and the 
succeeding reign. 



16 



From Prince Vaudemont's Camp near Bridges, 
Sept 20 th N. S. 1696. 

Sr, — I am infinitely delighted at your Success in the affaire of 
Newtown ; and your likelyhood of success at Yarmouth. If you can 
carry the point of those two Corporations, I'le improve it so much to 
your advantage to the King and every body else (and I promise you to 
doe it), that it shall be the best Card that ever you play'd. Whatever 
Expences you are at (publick or private) as far as 200 lb goes, I'l will- 
ingly repay you immediately at my return. This will be a matter of 
greater moment than you imagine, and you'l have a large share in the 
advantage of it. I wonder how Captain Phillips comes to be cow'd by 
S r R. Worsely. I beg of you to talk with him ; and if good words, 
promises, or mony will doe, secure him ; & pray don't omit this a mo- 
ment. And let all things be done with Calmness & Gravity. Some 
matters of the greatest moment (with regard to the Publick, as well as 
my own affaires) make it impossible for me to come over before the 
King comes ; and Major Morgan slip'd away of a Suddain before I 
knew any thiug of it. How happy it will be (just upon the conclusion 
of the War) to have our matters settled in the Isle of Wight. I beg of 
you to employ your whole head, and heart and hands in it. And we 
will (with God's leave) meet with more Joy than ever ; and I will im- 
prove it essentially to your advantage. My Compliments to all as if 
nam'd. I am sincerely, S r , Your faithfull humble servant, 

Cutts. 

Kensington, Oct : 20 t . h 1696. 

S R , — I wrote you word in my last that when the Battle of Yar- 
mouth was over you might come up to Town ; but I mean't that of 
Newtown ; that is to -say your Election of a Mayor there. M r Morgan 
will be sufficiently mortifv'd for his rampant carriage at Yarmouth. 
We have done a very good day's worke in the house of Commons to-" 
day, of which I doubt not but our members give you an account. I 
have so much business and Company at my first coming over, that (my 
Secretary not being yet arriv'd from Slanders) I cannot undertake to 
send any news. Holmes, waits only for the return of his letter to you ; 
and he comes away to you. You shall be a Witness your self, that I'l 
set all that you doe in a good Light; and (if you are successfull in 
Newtown) I doubt not but to graft something upon it that you'l be 
pleas'd at. Compliments to all as if nam'd. I am, S r , 

Your humble servant, 

Cutts. 

Coll. Dcdly. 

P. S. Pray bottle out and send up the Spanish wine as soon as 
may be, directed for me at .my house at Whitehall. 



17 

Whitehall, Christmas-Eve. 
(25 th Decm r 96.) 

S R , — Your Express had return'd to you sooner, but that I was will- 
ing to goe to the bottom of the matter first. I have retain'd the best 
concell of Doctor's Comons, & advis'd with some of the ablest Lawyers 
in England ; and upon their advice, my directions to you (and my 
Orders) are positively to keep the possession of the Goods ; and not to 
part with any thing, without my Order under my hand. I receiv'd 
yesterday one of yours dated Cows, Dec: 21, which I can make noth- 
ing of ; 'tis of so different a style and temper from your others. You 
make abundance of repetitions of your good wishes and kindness to my 
Lord Marquiss's servants, and say some other things (w ch I won't repeat 
here) which are inconsistent with your other Letters. I can't have so 
unjust a thought of you, as to imagine you will vary a tittle (directly 
or indirectly) from what you have allways pretended. Keep the things 
in your Possession, and let them be taken care of; there shall be no 
neglect on my side. I am, S r , Your most humble servant, 

Cutts. 

From the English Camp at Corkleberg commanded 
by Prince Vaudemont, Aug: the 12 th N. S. 1697. 

Sr, — I have receiv'd yours of the 19*? of July, for which I give you 
my hearty thanks. What you write of Morris surprizes me to a degree 
beyond Expression ; and I can't but own to you (between you and I) 
that I'm glad the War is at an end ; that I may have leisure to deal 
with him and some other Persons at home, that use me ill. For I can 
now write you word (tho' no Wise man will take upon him to answer 
for the certainty of any Humane Affaires, till they are done) no Man 
doubts but that the Peace will very soon be concluded, all matters 
being now fully adjusted between England, France, and Holland ; 
Spain being well inclin'd, and only the Emporour (I mean of any con- 
siderable Power) that makes any dimcultys. And tho' measures are 
kept with him, and an Exteriour Defference is due to an Ally of his 
Rank ; y£t 'tis thought he must comply, since England and Holland 
have resolv'd ; and the Houses of Brandenbourg, Hanover, Hesse, Zell, 
&c. are inviolably fast with England and Holland. So that there is no 
manner of doubt, humanely speaking, but that the Peace will very soon 
be concluded ; the ffrench having given but six weeks to the Allys to 
take their final resolutions. And so, if God blesses me with life, I 
shall certainly make my next Campagne in the Isle of Wight. And I 
mention all this only as an Introduction to what I'm going to say : that, 
when I can spend a summer in the Isle of Wight, 't will make a great 
Alteration both as to Persons and Things; besides that, I doubt not of 
being Vice-Admirall of Hamshire before I see you, and I hope to see 

3 



18 

you before the Election of Mayors in the Island. But as to this of my 
being in the Island so soon, pray let it be a dead secret from all Man- 
kind, till I write to you more certainly upon it, and of my being Vice- 
Admiral you may talk as of a common discourse, and a thing likely. 
And, since I am upon the subject of my designs in the Island, I'l tell 
you an other part of them. I shall order it so as to place a Com- 
mander at Sandham-Fort, and another at Yarmouth, who will serve 
without pay (only for the honour of the Comand and the Pleasure of 
Passing the summer there) and One also at Cows, if I can get something 
for you that will more then recompense to you the Profit of that Castle ; 
and all these Officers shall not be less than L'-Collonells, such as will 
keep their Coaches, and spend their monys there during the whole 
Summer, Men of Courage, Figure, and Merit. 

These Officers (all serving without Pay) shall be Commanders in 
cheif and, by the Courtesy of the Island, will be call'd Governours of 
their respective Garrisons, and so will, have their respective Com- 
manders under them, who will receive pay ; and all these Gentlemen 
(besides that they shall meet you at your club once a Week) will in 
the Island in Generall, and in their respective Stations, a little Counter- 
balance the dead weight of the factious Country Gentlemen ; for, be- 
sides their Courage, Conduct, and Authority ; they'l spend every One 
2 or 300 lb in the Island (more or less) every summer. And so many 
Officers of Distinction begin (now the Peace is certain) to ask this of 
me ; that, engaging to none, I shall be able to chuse Persons so intirely 
my own. that they shall not only be easy under me, but under you in 
my abscence, One who has ofier'd his service, has promis'd me all- 
ready that, if I'l make him cheif Comander of Sandham-Fort, he'l not 
only serve without pay, but he'l lay out 3 or 400 1 . to fit himself up an 
Apartement in the Castle, being a marry 'd man. And all this will make 
you* as well as me, make quite a different Figure in the Island. And 
(to close all) I here promise you, and I dare venture to say, upon the 
finishing the War, I'm sure I shall have it in my Power : I here prom- 
ise you, serve but the King, & me, effectually in this present storm, 
and I'l be instrumentall to put you in such circumstances as you shall 
have reason to be more than easy in. I mean doe effectual service in 
the matter of the Corporations ; and the matter of my personall con- 
cerns, as to Complaints, and every thing els. You may begin with 
remembring me to the respective Corporations, and telling them from 
me that the Peace is now in a manner concluded, and that this Cam- 
paigne will (in all humane Appearance) be the last Campagne of this 
so long and bloody War ; in which the King has lost so many Subjects, 
the Nation so many Inhabitants, and we (who have serv'd, and are liv- 
ing) many of us, so much blood. And I hope, I shall now be able to 
spend a great part of my time with them, and to see every thing settled 



19 

in the Island to every One's satisfaction, for which I shall use my ut- 
most endeavour. You. may tell them the very great Expence I have 
constantly been at, in sending an Equipage every year into this Coun- 
try ; and living at very great Expences here (of which whole burthen 
I shall now be nitirely eas'd) ; these Difficultys, and at a time when 
the King has not been able to pay me the quarter of what's due to me ; 
these Difficulty's, I say, have put me under great disadvantages ; but that 
I shall now have my hands more at liberty, not only to pay offe all Debts 
contracted in the Island vpon my Score, but to doe such acts of Gen- 
erosity and Charity' (both in Publick & private Occasions) as becomes 
a Man of Honour, and a Man of Conscience. Thus much you may tell 
them from me, which you ought to doe with as much solemnity and 
gravity as the thing will well bear. You may begin with the Corpora- 
tion of Newport, sending them word that you have receiv'd a Packet 
from me with very considerable news in it, and that you desire to drink 
a Glass of Wine with them, to communicate it to them ; where you 
may tell them what I have wrote you of Holland, Spain, the Emperour, 
&c. But tell them my Message first intire &, sometime after, tell 
them particulars by way of discourse, as part of what I have wrote you 
in particular. You may introduce my Message to them by telling them 
that the Peace being so very near at hand, as in Appearance it is, I 
thought they would not dislike hearing an account of it from me, and' 
tho' it will be not yet concluded ; yet 'tis so near it, that there is no 
manner of Doubt of it, &c. As for Yarmouth and Newtown, you may 
send for their respective Mayors, or such of their cheif Burgesses as you 
think fit, or you may frame some business to assemble them, or send 
for them, or such of them as you please, and tell them the news in a 
more careless manner & with less ceremony than to those at Newport. 
As, for Instance, I would have it told to those of Yarmouth and New- 
town as if you met them upon some other Occasion and told them this 
by chance without any compliment ; but to those of Newport I would 
have you speak, as meeting them on purpose to remember me to them 
& tell them that good news. But as for Yarmouth and Newtown use 
intirely / *your own Discretion. 

[The last sheet of this letter is missing.] 

Kensington, Nov : 9'. h 1697. 

Sr, — I receiv'd by your last an account of your rejoycing with our 
freinds, which I am very well satisfy'd with ; and as to what you say of 
repeating it again upon the news of his Majesty's arrivall, something 
will be fit to be done, but (I think) an exact repetition of the same is 
not necessary. And therefore (if you please) observe the following 
Directions. Upon receipt of this (by Expresses immediately), give 
order that the respective Garrisons of the Island have their Guns in a 



20 

readiness of a minute's Warning, with their matches lighted (their 
Guns being all loaded) and a Gunner in close waiting, to fire that min- 
ute that you receive an Express of the King's being landed, which I 
shall not fail to forward to you with Dilligence as soon as it comes to 
Whitehall. And when you send these Orders circularly, let them know 
you are to have an Express from me of the King's landing ; and that 
'tis my Order that all the Garrisons doe instantly (without a moment's 
delay) tell the joyfull news aloud to the Country. And let it be in-' 
sencibly made known (upon your receipt of this) that you expect every 
hour an Express, & y', upon y e arrivall of it, the Garrisons will answer 
One another round the Island (order Hurst to answer Yarmouth) to 
make known the Kind's landing. Drink a Glass of Wine w tb the Cor- 
poration at Night (but no firing after this upon any account), let some- 
thing be done at Cows and Yarmouth ; and illuminations every where. 
Let the yatch be at Southampton. Expect my Express hourly. 

Yours, 

Cutts. 

Kensington (Sunday), Nov: 14* 1697. 
Sr, — The Duke of Shrewsbury (who lodges next door to me in 
this Square) sent a Gentleman to me about two hours ago, to acquaint 
me that this day about ten o'clock his Majesty landed safe at Margate ; 
that he will lye this Night at Canterbury ; to-morrow-night at Green- 
wich ; and on Tuesday make his Entry through the City. The Duke's 
letter (by the Express) was very short ; and so I can write you no 
news. I hope you have receiv'd mine, in which I order'd you to have 
all the Guns at every Garrison in the Island, and at Hurst, ready 
loaded ; and a Gunner waiting at every post, ready to fire at a mo- 
ment's warning, & to make the Garrisons take it from One another, 
and fire in a round to "proclaim the arrivall of the greatest Monarch on 
Earth. Upon receipt of this loose not a moment's time, but (tho' you 
are at Cows) let Carisbrook-Castle begin. You will doe well to goe 
to Newport ; but publish not the news till the Guns have fir'd. Depend 
upon 't, I'l serve you. I am Your humble servant, 

Cutts. 1 

Kensington. Apr: 1. 1698. 
Sr, — I won't complain of your unkind behavior to me, that is not 
the matter now in dispute ; tho' in a week (all things consider'd) some 

1 In connection with the two foregoing letters it is not inappropriate to quote 
four lines lrom some verses congratulatory of King William's return to England 
after the Peace of Ryswick, and attributed to Charles Hopkins : — 

" The warlike Cutts the welcome tidings brings, 
The true, best servant of the best of kings : 
Cutts, whose known worth no herald needs proclaim ; 
His wounds, and his own worth, can speak his fame." 



21 

men would have shown some concern for One's health and affaires; 

but I don't insist upon it, your Personal Civilitys are most certainly 

your own, & dispose on 'em how you please ; provided you trouble me 

no more if Fortune should chance to smile on me, than you doe now 

She seems at least to do otherwise. But this (as I sayd before) is not 

the matter now in dispute. That which I have just reason to complain 

of is your reall neglect of the King's service in your station. For if I 

neither see nor hear of a Lieut-Governour in a Week, I would fain 

know (when so many things are to be consider'd now the Spring comes 

on) what you are payd for. You have the 4 s per diem which I give 

you gratis, w ch no other Governour ever had (I mean y e Captain of 

Cows, w ch Captain allways took some notice of me) & you have 2 8 

per diem out of my own pocket ; both which you know I can stop when 

I please ; & really I can employ 'em better if you treat y r Employment 

so remissly. Thus much as y r fellow servant I could not in duty omit. 

I have sent you the letter you desire. I would not have you think from 

this letter that I would constrain you to spend so much as an Ev'ning 

here from Company you like better ; but w n you come to the King's 

Levee (w ch you should doe if ever y u expect any thing) you can make y r 

reports, & take my Orders as you goe up. I have very good Neibours 

now & want no Company. 

I am, S r , Your humble servant, Cutts. 

Carisbeooke Castle, Sept : 2 n . d 1698. 
Sr, — Some business is fallen out, which makes me I cannot come to 
Cows to-day; pray make my Compliment to S r William Oglander * 
whom I told I would come. My Hounds lye at M r Stevens's to-night ; 
they will unharbour the Stag between 4 & 5 ; but (for fear of my ague) 
I dare not goe out so soon. But I design to be upon Wotton-common 
by six o'clock, and I'l take a snap with you (for I shall not venture out 
the whole hunt ; tho' this to y r self only) at two o'clock at Cows ; and 
visit the Ladys after dinner. If S r Harry Pickering 2 lands at Cows 
to-night (for whom pray look out sharp) give him 3 Guns & no more. 
Tell him, we are forbid giving any Guns. 

[The rest of this letter is missing.] 

Carisbrooke Castle, Sept: 16'. h 1698. 
Sr, — I desire (if possible) y* you would, by this bearer, send me 
some prawns (because I have some Roman-Catholicks to dine with me 
to-day, that come out of the main land) and, if you can, any other fish. 
And let the Messenger be back by ten o'clock. I am 

Your humble servant, Cutts. 

1 Sir William Oglander, 3d Baronet of Nunwell, head of one ox the oldest 
families in the island. 

2 Sir Henry Pickering was father of the second wife of Lord Cutts. 



22 

London, Oct : 29* 1698. 

Sr, — Your letters, either by the Negligence or willfull mistake of 
our Cambridge-shire Postmasters, were very long coming to my hands ; 
and that obliges me to send this by Expresse, which brings you en- 
clos'd a Deputation to be in the Chair at Newtown for the Election of 
a new Mayor, in which I'l give you no other Instructions, than to try 
to choose a man as well affected to me & my Interests as you can. I 
am but this minute alighted out of my coach from S r Harry Pickering's 
and am sitting down to dinner at M r Row's, one of the clerks of the 
Green-cloath ; and therefore cannot answer the rest of the contents of 
your Respective letters 'till Tuesday's post ; by which you shall have 
answers to every particular. My service to S r R. Worseley and my 
particular freinds. I am, 

S r , Your humble servant, 

Cutts. 

Coll: Dudley. 

Kensington, Dec : 3<? 1698. 
Sr, — I have receiv'd your last, for which I thank you. I believe it 
will be requisite for you, for the cherishing of your own Interest, to 
show your self to the King at his Arrivall. I hint it to you, & if you 
have a mind to come up, I'l think of one to releive you ; but write to 
me first. Send me word what How would have & I'l answer his Peti- 
tion ; but don't let him play the fool. 

I am, S r , Your humble servant 

Cutts. 
CD. 

P. S. There must by no means be a Gallon of Wine brought into 
Carisbrooke Castle. I keep that only for my own Residence and con- 
venience ; & therefore as this is my positive Order to you, S r , so pray 
give it to Major Collins. Wreck- Wines must be lodg'd at Cows or 
Yarmouth. Major Collins must not let the Castle of Carisbrooke be 
search'd ; but give very civill answers, and say he dare not doe it with- 
out my Orders, but that he will write to me. 

Kensington, May the 16* 1699. 
Sr, — I am oblig'd to you for your repeated concern to know how my 
principall Affaire goes ; which (I thank God) is in a very good Posture. 
On Saturday last I din'd with the King at Hampton-Court and had the 
good fortune to walk with him in the Wilderness after dinner and tell 
him my business at large ; to all which he gave a very obliging, posi- 
tive, and determinative answer ; and, if his affaires are not in such 
a Posture, as that he can doe at present what he would, he will (at 
least) doe that w ch will be honourable and make me easy. My Lord 



23 

Arlbemarle 1 has espous'd my Interests with great seeming zeal, & pub- 
lickly professes great Respect and Kindness for me ; upon which Com- 
mentatours are various, but y* to you only. My Lord Orford 2 is out 
of all his Employments ; which has disgusted some of his Creatures. 
Many changes are soon expected, but none yet certain, except that Lord 
Pembrooke 8 and Lord Lonsdale 4 (& another freind of mine) doe cer- 
tainly come into business. Pray send me up a list of what Officers you 
think proper to fill up the Militia. As soon as ever my own Life is safe, 
I'l endeavour to save your's. I shall soon have the Vice- Admiralty 

now. I am, S r , 

Your humble servant, 

Cutts. 

P. S. What have you done with the fellow, y' pretended to buy the 
ship? 

Tunbridge- Wells, Aug : 7* 1699. 
Sr, — I can't tell how it happens, but I have receiv'd five of your 
letters all at once; to prevent which for the future, Direct — for me 
at Tunbridge-wells by way of London — without sending them to any 
particular Person or Place at London. The Waters have (by the 
blessing of God) wrought such a miraculous change upon me, as well 
in my looks as in my state of body, that I am given as an Instance 
every day of their Virtue and Efficacy ; and I'm advised by the Doc- 
tours by all means to stay out this month, so that I shall not see the 
Island 'till something later than I came there last year. I'm sorry it 
will be so late before I can come, tho', as the King's Governour is us'd 
there, one has very little Encouragement to be amongst them any more 
than one's Business requires, I mean my Master's service. Coll. 
Holmes's Usage in the business of the Hunted-Deer has so much Ill- 
manners in it, and Indignity to the Government, that I know not what to 
say to 't, only in Generall, that 'tis in vain to think of obliging some Peo- 
ple. I am resolv'd to doe nothing that the Laws of England will not 
make good, and therefore, as to the business of hunting the Deer, it being 
out of ttie Limits of the Forrest, I presume we cannot have any process 
upon it, but we may show some tacite dislike of what we cannot help ; 
and therefore, I hope you did (by no means) goe to the eating of the 

1 Arnold Van Keppel, 1st Earl of Albemarle of that creation, the especial 
favorite and flatterer of William III. 

2 Edward Russell, Earl of Orford, an eminent naval commander, stigmatized 
by Macaulay as " insolent, malignant, greedy, faithless." 

8 Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke, afterwards Lord High Admiral of 
England, styled by Bishop Burnet "a man of eminent virtue and profound 

learning." 

* John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale, one of the great landed proprietors 
whose adhesion to William of Orange was fatal to James II. 



24 

Venison, or in any measure partake of it; that indeed would lessen both 
the King's Authority and the Credit of his Governour. Nay, I think 
you ought to receive what is sayd to you upon it with Coldness & some 
seeming Dislike, & by letting fall such Expressions, both to them and 
others, on all fitting Occasions, as may show a just Resentment on my 
behalf, without coming to a Rupture openly. I doe approve of your 
conduct in the business of the Dragoons ; I wish I had had your letter 
sooner, but I have wrote (now) to some of the Ministers about it. I 
dare not write more with my Waters at present. Pray give my keeper 
a rebuke for going with those Gentlemen (when they us'd me so) and 
for taking a Fee upon such an account. Tell him, I don't mean that 
I would have had him use any force, being out of the Forrest Bounds, 
but he should not have waited on them, or had any thing to doe with 
them, when they refus'd him the Deer. I'l write to you, God willing, 
twice a week henceforwards. I am, 

S r , your humble servant, 

Cutts. 

St James's, May 14* h 1700. 1 
S R , — I desire you to assist M rs Hampton with present necessarys 
(w ch Morris is order'd by this to repay you out of Parke-farm Rents) ; 
pray doe this a little promptly, and it shall be made up in your affaires 
here. 

Our Grand affayres are yet undecided, we are in great expectation. 
I am not idle in y r affaire. Be as zealous for, 

S r , your humble servant, 
For his Majesty's service. Cutts. 

To the hon ble Coll : Dudley, IAGovernour 
of the Isle of Wight. . 
Free, Cutts. 

A number of letters are undoubtedly missing from this cor- 
respondence, which here ends abruptly. In the following year 
the close intimacy between Cutts and Dudley substantially 
ceased, his Lordship going to Holland as second in command 
to Marlborough, and his subordinate vacating his post in 
Wight with the promise of the governorship of Massachusetts, 
though the King's death delayed his commission. It was about 
this time that Richard Steele, then Cutts's private secretary, 
dedicated to him his " Christian Hero " ; and it was about this 
time that Jonathan Swift, prompted by Tory pamphleteers to 

1 This last letter was not found among the Winthrop Papers, but is copied 
by permission, from the rich collection of autographs of our associate, Hon. 
Mellen Chamberlain. 



25 

whom the robust Whiggery of Cutts was especially obnoxious, 
made him the subject of a scurrilous lampoon, styling him, 
among other things, " the vainest old fool alive." Whatever 
his vanity may have been, he was staunch in his devotion to 
the revolutionary principles of 1688, and the untimely death 
of William III. was ultimately fatal to his prospects. The out- 
break of another great continental war in 1702 afforded him 
fresh opportunities for the display of brilliant personal heroism ; 
and at a dozen different places, and more particularly at Blen- 
heim, he covered himself with glory. But Queen Anne's secret 
liking for her half-brother, the Pretender, and increasing pref- 
erence for Tory statesmen and Tory generals, resulted in his 
transfer, early in 1705, to the command in Ireland, — a nominal 
distinction, but an exchange peculiarly galling to him, occur- 
ring, as it did, just at the beginning of a new campaign. 1 
His health was already somewhat undermined ; and the 
thought that without him his comrades were again measuring 
swords with France — that without him Marlborough and 
Peterborough were likely to win additional laurels on many 
a hard-fought field — fairly broke his heart ; and in January, 
1707, he was buried in Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. 

An extract from a published letter of his to the Earl of 
Nottingham, in September, 1702, describing the taking of 
Venloo, will serve to show that, upon occasion at least, he 
knew how to be as modest as he was brave. He says : — 

" Of my action at Fort S' Michael I will say no more than that it 
was my own contrivance & execution. ... It was successful, and 
produced good & quick effects, by occasioning the speedy surrender 
of Venlo, & making way for farther successes ; and it met with gen- 
eral approbation, for the world has made more noise of it than it de- 
serves. -*I had the honour to command brave men; I had the fortune 
to take my measures right ; and God blessed me with success." 

There is a soldierly bluntness about his epistolary style 
which displays but one side of his character. In his leisure 
hours Cutts cultivated the Muses, and was a poet of no mean 
capacity. Besides a poem on the death of the Queen, and 

1 Narcissus ,Luttrell, in his diary, states that, in May, 1704, Queen Anne 
made Cutts a present of a thousand guineas, in recognition of his recent ex- 
ploits ; but there is no doubt that his popularity with the army was distasteful 
to the Jacobite party. 

4 



26 

some occasional pieces, he published, in 1687, a little volume 
entitled " Poetical Exercises," now extremely rare, from which 
Horace Walpole, in his "Royal and Noble Authors," quotes 
a few extracts, and, in particular, two amatory stanzas, which 
seem to my old-fashioned taste to be fully as melodious as 
half of Robert Browning's verses, and they are certainly a 
good deal more intelligible (whatever Archdeacon Farrar may 
say to the contrary). 

" Only tell her that I love, 

Leave the rest to her and Fate, 
Some kind Planet from above 
May, perhaps, her pity move; 

Lovers on their Stars must wait ; 
Only tell her that I love. 

" Why, oh why, should I despair, 
Mercy 's pictured in her Eye ; 
If she once vouchsafe to hear, 
Welcome Hope, and farewel Fear, 

She 's too good to let me dye ; 
Why, oh why, should I despair! " 

The poems in question are preceded by an elaborate dedica- 
tion to the Princess Mary of Orange, afterwards his sovereign, 
which contains two passages I think worth citing : — 

" A quick, and right Apprehension of Things ; a clear & solid Judg- 
ment ; with a Natural Tendency to all that is Just, and Good, and 
Charitable ; are such inestimable Blessings in a high Station ; that You 
are more beholding to God for being so qualified, than for being born 
a Princess. When I add to all this, that your Soul is touched with a 
Spark of that Fire, which warms the Hearts of Angels, and kindles 
Mortality into Desires that are Immortal, it gives such a double Lustre 
to all the rest of Your Accomplishments ; and invests You with some- 
thing so Glorious, and Divine, that we can never have Eyes enough to 
Admire You, or Tongues enough to praise You. . . . 

" Justice & Truth are the particular Care of Heaven. They sur- 
mount everything ; and their Lustre breaks through the thickest Clouds. 
When any Subtilty, or Force of Argument can perswade men to be- 
lieve, that the Sun does not Shine ; or that the Stars are not bright ; 
then (and not till then) shall the Glory of an Illustrious Life be stifled, 
and obscur'd." 1 

1 There are few copies of this book in existence ; but, by the kindness of Mr. 
Moorfield Storey, of the Suffolk bar, I have been permitted to see one which be- 
longed to his father-in-law, the late General Richard D. Cutts, of Washington 



27 

Lord Cutts married, first, Dec. 18, 1690, a rich widow, Lady 
Trevor, sister of Sir- George Treby, Attorney General of Eng- 
land, and Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. She, however, 
died a few years later ; and King William consoled him for the 
loss of her jointure by the gift of an estate in Sussex, which 
he sold for eight thousand pounds. He married, secondly, in 
February, 1696, another lady of fortune, the only daughter of 
Sir Henry Pickering, Bart., of Whaddon in Cambridgeshire, 
and who would appear to have survived him ; but he left no 
issue by either marriage, and the collateral branches of his 
family are extinct. 1 It is interesting, however, to remember 
that he came of the same original stock with the distinguished 
American family of that name, long seated at Portsmouth in 
New England, who descend from Richard Cutt, or Cutts, a 
member of one of Cromwell's Parliaments, whose son John 
was, in 1679, commissioned President of the province of New 
Hampshire. I can find no evidence that the General was per- 
sonally acquainted with his transatlantic kinsmen ; but I have 
thought it a not unreasonable conjecture that the " cousin 
Hooke," mentioned in one of the letters, may have been a son 
of Francis Hooke, of Kittery, or of the Rev. William Hooke, of 
New Haven, sometime chaplain to Oliver Cromwell. 

A portrait of Cutts, taken some years before his elevation to 
the peerage, by Wissing, the fashionable court-painter who im- 
mediately succeeded Sir Peter Lely, was exhibited at South 
Kensington in 1866. A contemporary print of it, now very 
scarce, was copied, in 1797, by Richardson, to illustrate Gran- 
ger's "Biographical History of England; " and this last is occa- 
sionally met with in a separate form. There exists, moreover, 
a still more rare engraving, representing him on his death-bed, 
in 1707„surrounded by Apollo, Minerva, and Cupid weeping; 
and I have been disappointed in not obtaining a heliotype 
of it to accompany these letters. I have been obliged to 
content myself with furnishing one of a portrait, hitherto 
little known, of Governor Joseph Dudley, which has always 
been in possession of the descendants of his daughter Anne, 
wife of John Winthrop, F.R.S., and which some members 

1 In the interval between these marriages he was, according to Luttrell, cur- 
rently reported to have been engaged to one of the Queen's maids of honor, 
a sister of that notorious Lord Mohun, who subsequently killed the Duke of 
Hamilton in a duel. 



28 

may remember to have seen in the country-house of the late 
President of the Society at Brookline. It is believed to have 
been painted towards the close of his third residence in Eng- 
land, in 1701, when he was in Parliament, and not long before 
his final return to this countrj\ The other two authentic 
likenesses of him are, first, a portrait believed to have been 
painted in London during his first residence in London, as 
agent for Massachusetts in 1682-86, which was presented to 
this Societ} r in 1870 by his lineal descendant, Mr. Henry A. S. 
Dudley; 1 and, second, a much dilapidated portrait, believed 
to have been painted during his second visit to England, in 
1689-90, and now belonging to Dr. Daniel Dudley Gilbert, of 
Roxbury, a descendant of Dudley's daughter, Rebecca Sewall. 
This last was shockingly engraved, in 1856, for the late Mr. 
Samuel G. Drake's " History of Boston," and the plate has 
been more recently used to illustrate the late Mr. Francis 
S. Drake's " History of Roxbury ; " a cut of it appears in the 
" Memorial History of Boston." All three portraits are not 
without merit as works of art, and, making allowance for the 
difference in age of the subject, bear a marked resemblance to 
one another ; but Mr. Drake's engraver has unaccountably 
substituted for a curly periwig the long black locks of an 
Indian chief, and has successfully endeavored to impart to the 
naturally grave expression of the Governor an air of fatuous 
benignity wholly foreign to his character. For more than a 
century the historians of New England have vied with one 
another in heaping-obloquy upon the political career and mo- 
tives of Joseph Dudley; but I fancy his well-balanced mind 
would have been less disturbed at the prospect of such un- 
reasoning abuse, than by the thought that so feeble and inac- 
curate a pictorial representation of himself was to be handed 
down to posterity in the three works of reference which I 
have mentioned. 2 



1 A replica, or perhaps only an ancient copy, of this picture is in possession 
of our associate, Professor Charles Eliot Norton, of Cambridge, a great-great- 
grandson of Dudley's daughter, Mary Atkins. 

2 In an article in the " Genealogical Register " of October, 185G, Mr. Dean 
Dudley alludes to the portrait now belonging to this Society (then owned by the 
widow of Colonel Joseph Dudley, of Roxbury), and also to the Gilbert portrait, 
which latter he describes as " taken when the Governor was sick." So far as I can 
gather, this family tradition, of uncertain date, arose from the apparent sallow- 
ness of the face, and from a certain suggestion of dressing-gown about the costume. 



29 

Of his wife, Rebecca Tyng, there exists, so far as I am 
aware, but one authentic portrait, the very interesting one 
belonging to this Society ; * but, in the course of my inquiries 
into this subject, I received information that in the family of 
the late Mr. Dudley Hall, of Medford, were portraits of Mr. 
and Mrs. Joseph Dudley, by Sir Peter Lely. As Lely never 
visited this country, and died before Dudley first went abroad, 
I was a little incredulous ; and on going out to Medford, I 
found two charming pictures, apparently painted by Smibert, 
and representing, as. I have every reason to believe, Joseph 
Dudley's son William, Speaker of the Massachusetts House of 
Representatives from 1726 to 1729, and his wife Elizabeth, 
daughter of Judge Addington Davenport, — the said Mr. and 
Mrs. William Dudley having been the great-grandparents of 
the late Mr. Dudley Hall. It is not *to be wondered at that 
such mistakes continually occur about old family portraits, 
when we consider how indifferent our wives and children 
often are to the associations connected with them, and how 
difficult they generally find it to give an accurate description 
of them. I am bound to add that a somewhat similar blunder 
was made long ago concerning the one of Joseph Dudley now 
at Brookline ; for when, in 1860, it came into the possession of 
its present owner, on the death of a kinsman at New London, 
he found pasted on the back of it this distich : — 

" Sir Thomas Dudley 's a trusty old stud, 
A bargain 's a bargain & must be made good." 

In other words, the writer of this doggerel on the back of that 
portrait clearly supposed it to represent, not Governor Joseph, 
but his father, Governor Thomas Dudley, a likeness of whom 
would, I need not say, be a great prize, for none is known to 
exist. The figure, however, is attired in the costume and 
long, full-bottomed wig of the later Stuart period ; and no 
one at all acquainted with historical portraiture would be 
willing, for a moment, to accept it as Thomas Dudley, who 

After careful examination, however, I believe the sallowness in question to be 
merely the effect of age and neglect, and the " dressing-gown " looks to me more 
like a judicial robe. As Dudley was named Chief Justice of New York about 
that time, he may have had himself so painted. The learned editor of the 
" Memorial History " has expressed to me his regret that the Drake engraving 
should have been followed without verification. 

1 Professor Nortou possesses a replica, or ancient copy, of this also. 



30 

died at a very advanced age in 1653. My conjecture as to 
the origin of this mistake is, I think, a reasonable one. At 
Joseph Dudley's death, in 1720, this portrait became the prop- 
erty of his daughter, Mrs. Winthrop, who survived her father 
more than half a century, and died in 1776 at the great age of 
ninety-two. This venerable lady had outlived her sons, and 
the portrait then passed to her eldest grandson, a young man 
with a number of younger brothers, some one of whom (ac- 
cording to my theory) having always heard the picture spoken 
of at his grandmother's as Governor Dudley, hastily assumed 
it to be the more distinguished of the two Governors Dudley, 
and amused himself by scribbling on it accordingly. Had he 
been a man of cultivation, he would have undoubtedly pre- 
ferred to transcribe several of the lines in which Thomas 
Dudley's daughter, Anne Bradstreet, the first New England 
poetess, has so quaintly and touchingly commemorated her 
father ; but being, as he probably was, a youngster with a not 
very refined sense of humor, he preferred the above-mentioned 
distich, which was by no means original with him, as it has 
been ascribed to no less authoritative a pen than that of Gov- 
ernor Jonathan Belcher, though in my own judgment it is more 
likely to be a survival of the doggerel of the colonial period. 
The correct version begins, not "Sir Thomas," but "Here lies 
Thomas ; " and the writer, relying upon an imperfect memory, 
managed to confer upon his assumed great-great-grandfather 
the honor of knighthood. For the benefit of those who may 
not have found leisure to devote much attention to the do- 
mestic history of Puritan times, it is as well to explain, by 
way of parenthesis, that the reason why this irreverent, not 
to say flippant, expression, " trusty old stud," was applied to 
so eminent and austere a magistrate as Thomas Dudley, is to 
be found in the fact that no less than three of the children of 
his second marriage were born after he had entered upon his 
seventieth year. 

I will only add, in conclusion, that I can find no trace of 
the numerous confidential letters which Cutts must have re- 
ceived from his Lieutenant-Governor during their eight years 
of official association, and which his Lordship perhaps de- 
stroyed. The Winthrop Papers include many of Dudley's 
domestic letters, and among them several written by him from 
the Isle of Wight to his wife in New England ; but they 



31 

contain not the . remotest reference to public affairs, and con- 
sist, for the most part, of slightly monotonous expressions of 
conjugal endearment, intermingled with reiterated and edify- 
ing assurances that the consolations of religion alone sustained 
him during so protracted an absence from his family. 1 

1 A still further illustration of the untrustworthiness of family traditions is sup- 
plied by the fact that there was long ago presented to the Cabinet of this Society 
a quaint bit of provincial furniture, purporting, to be the "Cradle of Governor 
Joseph Dudley." It has recently been noticed, however, that the rows of antique 
brass nails which ornament it, and which are evidently coeval with the wood- 
work, are so disposed on top as to form the distinct date " 1730," which is eighty- 
three years after the Governor first became a candidate for a cradle, and about 
the time that several of his grandchildren were in need of one. 



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